So, we bought a new TV. We bought it a lot sooner than I planned on buying one. Why? It was a great deal and we didn’t want to miss out.

The problem? Our current TV (at the time) was a stand-alone beast and I had nothing to put the new (skinny, beautiful) TV on, furniture-wise. I didn’t want another IKEA/Target ready-to-assemble piece of fiberboard, I wanted real furniture, and I had the perfect piece in my head.

Yep. My head has expensive taste ($2875!!!). I had to take it down a notch, since we just dropped big bucks on the TV. I took it to Craigslist. Five minutes later, I found something I liked. It was $169 on Craigslist, but it was at a local antique mall. Of course I forced Whitney to go look at it with me, armed with measuring tape and a plan! It had the coolest looking top two drawers – of course, the ones I was about to remove. I did save them because they have a lattice design, and I might want to use this as a real chest of drawers someday.

Turns out it was the perfect size! It was also $20 cheaper than it was on Craigslist (yay for sales). PS: This is who I bought it from – Vintage Shoppe Girl. They’ve got good stuff if you’re local! Since I don’t have a truck (I really should have a truck), I had them hold it and convinced my brother to “help” me pick it up the next morning. What a good brother I have.

They agreed to sell it to me for $130, which was awesome, so I made it mine. It sat in my living room for a week while I stared at it, panicked, and tried to figure out the easiest way to convert a chest of drawers to a media console. Finally, at about 7:00 pm one night, I figured it out and left my husband at home to make dinner while I went to Home Depot to pick up a few things. Ha!

Those “few things” were 1/2″ MDF cut to size, a hole saw bit set, oh, and a Ryobi Super Combo Kit. Yeah. I only needed a drill (my hand-me-down drill bit the dust), but for only $50 more I could get a reciprocating saw, a circular saw, and a big old flashlight thing. It all came with a huge bag to store it in, 2 batteries, and a charger. So awesome. The lady that checked me out was asking about it, so I told her about Haven Conference/Ryobi/DIY stuff – people are always so shocked that a *girl* can use power tools, it amazes me every time!

I guess you could say that once I get motivated to do something, I don’t mess around. I got home, plugged the charger in, and let the battery charge while we ate dinner. Once that was finished, I realized that one of the shelves I had cut would not fit because a notch needed to be taken out of it. I KNEW I bought the combo kit for a reason!

Yes, folks, I used a reciprocating saw in my living room. Sure did. I wasn’t even scared (it was my first time). It was awesome.

Then it was time to use the saw hole bit – 2 1/2″, to pull all of the cords through the back. That was a little bit scary, at least the first one. I wasn’t too sure of myself so it was a little choppy, but the second one was like buttah.

We nailed the back of the chest back on, painted the shelves black (spray paint because I’m cheap and impatient like that), and plugged stuff in. It is perfect! I ordered a table runner to go on the top (uh, in a color much like Gilded Pesto, of course) to finish it off. It’s not here yet, but I will update when it is!

Now, what else can I go saw and/or drill?

 

Linked up at Shabby Creek Cottage Transformation Thursday!